For stains, yes bleach can work. Also Ajax and a scrub brush will get rid of mildew and dirt.

For really harsh stains, sometimes the best fix is to just sail it... My boat has a yellow tramp. For a while, it was sitting outside in the backyard and a bunch of leaves got under the tarp and began to decompose leaving a large black stain on the tramp. I scrubbed the snot out of it which made it a little better, but still very ugly- mostly just turned the stain from black to brown. I eventually gave up and just decided to sail it. After a season of being bleached by the sun and being crawled on, all the ugliness is gone.

Turns out that it's a box with 4 pre-soaped sponges. You get it wet, ring it out and use it. They're reusable until they don't work that well.

I've never used it, but on another motor boating forum I saw that quite a few people use it to get rid of stains on their vinyl boat seats. All of them said it worked fast and completely removed the stains.

Be careful using the bleach ,rinse throughly and reclean to remove any bleach.I use a conditioner on my white vinyl tramp to protect and rejuvenate the fabric.My boat is gunsmoke blue (a stars and stripes) and looks 5 years old instead of her real age of 20 because I have carefully cleaned,waxed and polish the gel coat and kept it cover.Be sure your tramp in off the boat when you use bleach...good luck Bill 404 21SE

I use Sparten Shine Plus as a conditioner during storage and wash it off before using my boat.A 32 oz. bottle last a long time and cost less than 20 dollar.It is slippery and can be trouble so wash it off before using the tramp and then retreat it to protect that vinyl inbetween sailing trips.This has keep my tramp in good shape for many years.You will find it at a janitorial supply company.Use it also on rubber door gaskets on your vehicles too,it has many uses. Good luck...Bill 404 21SE

I really like Spray 9 for just about all cleaning needs especially the tramp. You can pick it up a True Value, Ace Hardware and the like. Spray it on, let is sit for a minute or two, scrub and spray rinse. Awesome stuff.

But, I found Star Brite "Mildew Stain Remover" and it works exactly as advertised.

You follow the same steps, spray it on, let it sit a while, scrub and rinse thoroughly.

I'm not even sure that I needed to scrub. I think that if I sprayed it on a little heavier I would have only needed to rinse it.

So far my cleaning methods for my 21SE are:

- Penetrol for all of the black metal (black mast, boom, crossbars, etc.), apply and wipe it clean as you can- Soft Scrub for the hulls works great- I have a clean trampoline thanks to Star Brite Mildew Stain Remover- My aluminum Trailex trailer looks like NEW, I used aluminum rim cleaner on it (still looking for replacement slot bolts and the nuts, I'd like stainless)- all rope: I read an article in Good Old Boat that said good rope responds well to a good wash in a clothes washing machine (my rope is so old I'm considering finding a collector)

A few tips for you:When using soft scrub make sure you was the boat afterwards because the soft scrub will leave a chalky look (I would was and wax it, using Star-Brite Teflon wax).Also for new rope it isn't necessary to wash it in a washing machine. I've always just thrown in a bath tub over night with water and a little bit of fabric softener to loosen up the rope, so it's not so stiff.